Just In Time
by autumnrose2010
Summary: Will and Deanna must travel back in time to the twentieth century to complete an important mission.
1. Saving Irina

Will clung tightly to Deanna's hand as he watched Geordi expertly maneuver the instruments. "The worm hole should be perfectly aligned within about five minutes."

"I can sense your fear," Deanna told Will. "I'm afraid, too. But this is something we have to do."

"Oh, absolutely!" Will agreed.

"So your great times nine grandfather was a Siberian ice fisherman and fur trapper named Arkady Arkadevich Renko," said Geordi.

"He crossed the Bering Strait in a row boat in 2029 and later married an Eskimo woman," Will replied. "They had a daughter named Natalya who married Michael Stephen Riker in 2062."

"Well, here we are," Geordi told them. "Ready...set..." Will and Deanna took deep breaths and prepared themselves for the plunge. Suddenly brilliant lights were speeding past them, so quickly that they were only a blur. A feeling of euphoria swept through them both. Then came the nightmarish part they'd dreaded, the dark, the heat, the sensation of utter desolation. Then the reversal as the euphoria returned, and then they exited the worm hole to arrive inside a Moscow clinic in 1995, where a young woman was obviously in distress.

She was plump but very pretty, with wavy shoulder-length brown hair and pale blue eyes. Her face had turned beet red and was rapidly becoming a deadly purple as she struggled for each breath. Clasping the EpiPen Beverly had given him, Will quickly approached her and jabbed its business end into her thigh. Instantly her breathing began to return to normal as she stared at Will with wide eyes filled with fear. _"Kto vy?"_

"You're going to be all right," Will soothed. "The epinephrine will make you feel better."

"Who are you?" she repeated, sounding more curious than hostile this time. "And why are you dressed so strangely?"

"If I told you, you'd never believe me." Will was relieved that she spoke English, as he didn't understand a word of Russian.

"You're American." She sounded only slightly surprised. Will nodded. The woman turned to Deanna. "And you are as well?"

Deanna shook her head. "I'm from a place you've never heard of called Betazed."

"You're right. I've never heard of it." The woman frowned. "Is that why you're dressed like that?"

"It's really too complicated to explain right now, but these are star ship uniforms," Will explained. There wasn't time to say anything more, as another man, one who obviously shared a close bond with the woman, had just arrived.

* * *

"What happened?" Arkady had brought his wife to the clinic to be treated for a minor infection, and the last thing he'd expected was to find strangely dressed intruders in the examination room with her.

"They gave me a shot of ampicillin, even though I told them I was allergic to it," Irena told her husband. "I almost died, Arkasha." Her voice broke. Instantly he was right there, holding her, comforting her. Will and Deanna felt terribly awkward.

"That man over there saved me." She raised her head to look into his eyes. "He gave me a shot of epinephrine."

"Commander William T. Riker of the _USS Enterprise."_ Will smiled and extended his hand to the other man. "And this is counselor Deanna Troi."

"Arkady Renko." Arkady shook Will's hand. "I've no idea what you're talking about, but I do thank you for saving my wife's life."

"I'm just glad I got here in time," Will replied.

"How did you get in here?"

"It's a long story. We can talk about it later. Right now your wife needs medical attention."

"But I feel fine," Irena protested.

"I still think you should be checked at the hospital, just to be sure. It would make me feel a whole lot better." Will and Deanna were touched by the twentieth century man's obvious concern for his wife.

At the hospital, Irena was given a quick physical and placed in a room, where an erythromycin drip was begun to clear up the original infection. Arkady never left her side and sat beside her as she rested. "What a strange experience," she reflected.

"Certainly one of the strangest I've ever encountered," her husband replied. "But I'm glad they showed up, as I can't bear to think what might have happened if they hadn't. Oh, I almost forgot to give you this." He handed the magazine to her, and she smiled.


	2. Parallel Lives

"So you came from over three hundred years in the future just to save me?" Irina was understandably having a very difficult time processing the information. The two couples were sitting together at a charming little outdoor cafe just outside the hospital. It was a beautiful sunny day. Irina had just been released after three days of receiving an antibiotic through an IV. "But how?"

"Time travel through worm holes became possible when a method was discovered to stabilize them long enough for passage to take place," Will explained.

"I've heard of worm holes," said Irina. "So are you two married?"

Will and Deanna exchanged glances. "No," Deanna replied.

"But it may well happen some day," Will added quickly.

"Arkady and I have been married for three years now." Irina smiled as she took her husband's hand.

"How did you meet?" asked Deanna.

"It was in 1983," Irina began. "He was investigating a crime, and he interviewed me because I had been good friends with one of the victims. I was trying to defect to the United States at the time."

"Defect?" Deanna was puzzled.

"That would have been during the Soviet era," Will reminded her.

"To me that seems so very long ago."

"It doesn't seem that terribly long ago to me," said Irina. "Arkasha and I fell in love, but then I had to stay in New York and he had to go back to Moscow. We didn't see one another again for eight years after that. I thought that he would wait a year or two and then join me in New York but he never did. He promised to keep in touch, but he didn't. I moved to Germany to be closer to him, and one day he called me out of the blue and wanted to see me again."

"After I left her in New York, I thought I'd never see her again." Arkady took up his wife's story seamlessly. "I didn't write back to her because it would have been too painful. I was sure she'd met another man and I didn't want to hear about it. One day in 1991, I was listening to Radio Liberty and heard her voice. Right then and there, I knew that I had to find a way to see her again. I found out where she was and went there."

"I was cold to him at first, but it was only because I was so badly hurt that he'd never contacted me or tried to find me over all those years. I never stopped loving him." Briefly she thought of Max, of all the times she'd lain underneath him and joined her body to his while all the time pretending that Arkady was there instead.

"As I never stopped loving you." Arkady kissed her lips, a soft, sweet, chaste kiss.

"That sounds so much like our story," said Deanna. "Will was a young Starfleet officer stationed on Betazed when we met at the wedding of a mutual friend. We were together for a little while, but then my mother interfered and broke us up. Later we made plans to get together on Risa, but he got a promotion and chose that over our relationship."

"Risa?"

"It's a bit like Monaco, or perhaps Las Vegas."

"Oh, I see." Irina nodded.

"We didn't see each other again until we were stationed together on the _Enterprise_ in 2364. We tried to be just friends for a long time, but in the end we had to admit that we were still in love."

"Tell me about this Betazed," said Irina. "Is it much like earth?"

"It's a beautiful planet. There are lush jungles and wide canyons, jutting cliffs and clear lakes. The Janara Falls is a very special place to Will and myself. Perhaps we could all go there someday."

Irina shook her head. "This is all just so very new to me."

"That's perfectly understandable," Will replied.

* * *

"Neither of them said anything at all about having any children," Deanna remarked. Having decided that they might as well enjoy a vacation since they were there anyway, they'd checked into a Moscow motel and were now relaxing on the bed.

"Perhaps my great times nine grandfather is yet to be conceived," said Will. "It did feel strange to converse with that couple while at the same time realizing that they're actually my distant ancestors."

"It's a good thing you didn't tell them that," Deanna replied. "The shock would have been too much for them. They're both still reeling from a combination of Irina's close brush with death and the things we've told them already."

"Perhaps it won't be necessary to tell them at all," said Will. "But I would really like to get to know them better."

"I can sense that Arkady is much like you: fearless, loyal, devoted, and protective, but with an inclination toward over confidence and false bravado. I'd love to know more about his family background. I strongly suspect that it's similar to yours, Will. Irina, on the other hand, is quite different from myself, but of course, her background is vastly different from mine. I sense in her a brashness, a tough exterior concealing a tender heart."

"And you can tell all that just from being around them twice."

Deanna laughed. "I came by it honestly."

* * *

They'd no sooner entered the apartment than Irina had pressed Arkady against the wall and began to kiss him passionately. He responded by reaching underneath her skirt and pulling her panties down while she undid his belt buckle and unzipped his pants. Within seconds he was inside her, thrusting with abandon. "Harder," she whispered. "Faster."

He obliged, his breath coming in deep, ragged gasps as she groaned in pleasure. As he erupted inside her, his knees gave way and he fell to the hard wooden floor, pulling her down on top of him. Both of them just lay there, gasping and panting, for a few seconds. "I really could have lost you." Arkady's voice was choked with emotion. "You could have been gone forever."

Gently she pressed a finger against his lips. "We're here together now. That's all that matters."

It didn't occur to her until much later that her period was about three weeks late.


	3. Stranded

At the time, Arkady was watching the news and Irina was lying on the sofa with her head in his lap while he stroked her hair. "Arkasha?"

"What is it, love?"

"I think I'm pregnant." She turned to look at him. His expression was indecipherable.

"Surely they would have tested you for that in the hospital."

"I don't know if I'm far enough along for it to have shown up in a test, but my period is several weeks late."

"That's happened to you before, darling." They'd been trying to get Irina pregnant for about a year now, but since her periods were irregular, it was hard to know when the best time of the month to try was. Needless to say, it had taken its toll on their sex life, and making love now seemed more a means to an end than an end unto itself.

Except for the passionate interlude upon their return from the hospital, which had been more reminiscent of old times.

"But this time it's different," Irina replied. "I know it is." Arkady was silent. She knew he was afraid to get his hopes up. She reached to embrace his cheek. "I love you, Arkasha." He kissed the back of her hand but didn't smile.

* * *

"Well, what would you like to see first?" asked Will.

"How about Gorky Park?" Deanna suggested.

"You've always had a fondness for twentieth century Earth amusement parks, haven't you?"

"You know how I love Ferris wheels, Will. Nothing simulated on a holodeck can compare to the wind blowing through your hair at the top."

Will laughed and swatted her behind. They got in line for the Ferris wheel and waited as it slowly inched forward. When they were finally at the front, Will held the bar for Deanna to climb in and then climbed in after her. The car rocked gently as it moved upward, and Deanna was glad they'd visited twentieth century Earth.

* * *

"Congratulations." The nurse smiled at Arkady and Irina. Irina laughed with joy, and Arkady joined in. "I'm glad the news makes you happy," the nurse continued.

"There is one concern," Irina told her. "I was recently hospitalized for an infection and was given erythromycin intravenously. Could that have harmed our baby?"

"There shouldn't be any problem."

Tears of joy were in Irina's eyes as she smiled at her husband. "After all this time, we're finally going to be parents!"

As he gazed into her shining eyes, Arkady knew that he'd never loved her more than he did at this moment. He held her close and kissed her lips.

They went out to lunch to celebrate at a cozy little diner that was upstairs from a department store. She ordered a baked potato with butter and sour cream. "I'm just not very hungry today," she told Arkady. "And it doesn't look like you are, either."

He shook his head as if to clear it of cobwebs. "I only hope that I can be a better father than my own father was."

"You never talk about him at all." To Irina, much of the man she loved remained a mystery. She suspected that a lot of his past was painful and difficult for him to discuss.

"He was a brute. A mass killer," Arkady told her.

She just stared at him, shocked.

"He was one of Stalin's highest ranking generals," Arkady continued. "He was responsible for the deportations and deaths of thousands of innocent people. My mother was young and naive, and she loved him. She didn't really know what kind of man he was, and when she finally realized it, it was too much for her to handle."

"So what happened?" Irina wasn't sure she really wanted to know.

"She wanted me to help her gather rocks along the beach that day," Arkady recalled. "I had no idea what she wanted them for. I was just happy to be spending time with her. I was only seven. Later that same day she went missing, and when they finally found her, she was lying in the water underneath the raft we'd been on earlier that day, her body weighted down with all the rocks so it wouldn't float to the surface. My father blamed me for her death from that day on."

"But you were only seven!" Irina exclaimed. "There's no way you could have known what she was planning to do with those rocks!"

"That didn't matter to him."

Shocked and saddened by her husband's story, she didn't know what to say to comfort him. "But Arkady, you're not like your father at all. You're a kind and compassionate person, and I know you're going to be a wonderful father."

"I was a major disappointment to him." It seemed that once Arkady had finally opened up about his father, he couldn't stop talking about him. "He used to call me a sissy, a Mama's boy. He was always telling me I needed to grow some balls. I think I reminded him of her. In fact, I'm sure I did."

"Well, you're not a disappointment to _me_ at all. I love you just the way you are, and so will our child."

"How did I ever get lucky enough to find you?"

* * *

"My com badge doesn't seem to be working." Will tapped the instrument repeatedly but got no response.

Deanna tapped her own. "Neither does mine."

"Well, that's just great." Will sighed and rolled his eyes. "How are we ever going to find someone who knows how to repair com badges in the twentieth century?"

"I'm sure Geordi and Data will find a way to help us get back," Deanna replied. "All we have to do is wait."

"Easier said than done." Will imagined being stranded in the twentieth century for the rest of his life and began to panic.


	4. An Excellent Trombone Player

"Of course you may stay with us for as long as you like," Arkady told Will and Deanna. "Please, make yourselves at home."

Through their _Imzadi_ connection, Will could sense how frightened Deanna was. "It'll be all right," he told her.

"But I've never even visited the twentieth century before!" she exclaimed.

"But we did go to the nineteenth century once," Will reminded her. "The twentieth can't be much different."

"But I don't know a single word of Russian!"

"So we'll learn. Take a crash course. You learned English just fine."

"My father spoke it to me often when I was a child, so I had a head start." She thought of something. "How did you learn English, Irina?"

"I learned it in school. Arkady and I both did." she smiled. "Since the last time we saw you, we've learned some very happy news. We're to become parents in about seven and a half months!"

"Congratulations!" Genuinely happy for the twentieth century woman, she gave her a hug.

"We'd been trying for about a year," Irina continued. "We were starting to think about looking into alternatives, like adoption."

"I'd love to be a mother some day," Deanna replied. She wondered what a child from herself and Will would look like and suddenly realized that she wanted that very badly. But how to broach the subject with him? He'd never even mentioned marriage, and she knew that if she came across as if she were pressuring him, it would only drive him away.

"I hope that it happens for you as it did for us," said Irina.

* * *

"I wish I knew how to help you," Arkady said to Will. "I am an investigator, but I'm afraid astrophysics is a bit beyond the scope of my knowledge and ability."

"That's all right. I expected as much," Will replied. "I'll just have to be patient and wait for my friends to come back for me. I'm sure they will soon."

"In the meantime, Irina and I would be happy to show you around our lovely city."

"We've already seen quite a bit of it," Will replied. "What I'd love to do is to hear all about your family. Irina's, too. I'd also love to see any photographs you might have."

"Oh?" Arkady looked surprised. "Well, we certainly have plenty of those."

Fifteen minutes later, the four individuals sat poring over boxes of photographs. "This is the very last photograph of my mother ever taken," Arkady announced. In it, Arkady's father stood proud and tall, while his mother stood beside him with a smile on her face but a distant look in her eyes. Arkady looked happy, oblivious to anything being amiss, his grin showing his missing two front teeth.

"She's beautiful," Will remarked. "I can't believe how strongly she resembles my own mother."

"Tell me about her," said Arkady.

"I can barely remember her," Will replied. "I was only two when she passed away from a sudden illness."

"What of your father?"

"He and I were never close. I was on my own from the time I was fifteen. We had a reconciliation of sorts a few years ago, but we haven't been in touch in a long time."

Arkady nodded as if he understood. "My father was one of Stalin's highest ranking generals. I don't like to talk about him very much."

"Stalin?"

"Certainly you've heard of him."

"One of the bloodiest dictators of the twentieth century."

"Right. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps and join the Red Army. He ridiculed me when I refused."

"I'm sorry." Will didn't know what else to say.

"That's all right," Arkady replied. "I've put it behind me and moved on."

"So have I," said Will. He couldn't believe that he had so much in common with his many times removed ancestor.

"One thing I've made up my mind about is that I'm going to be a completely different kind of father myself."

"And I as well...if Deanna and I ever have a child." It was the first time the idea of having a child with Deanna had ever occurred to him.

* * *

"He's an excellent trombone player," Irina said to Deanna. The two women and Arkady were sitting at a table at the lounge where Will had just landed a job as a trombone player.

"He is," Deanna agreed. "He can even play 'Night Bird' perfectly now." 'Night Bird' had been the song that Will had had the most trouble learning to play.

"Do you play any instruments?" asked Irina.

Deanna shook her head. "Unfortunately, no, although I've always admired those who can." She looked forward to being able to work as a counselor, but she knew that she'd have to become fluent in conversational Russian first.

Several days later, Arkady was at work and Will and Deanna had gone out, so Irina was alone in the apartment when she heard a strange yowling sound from just outside the apartment and went to investigate. She saw that a small grey kitten with an injured paw was on the other side of the door. "Oh, you poor thing!" she exclaimed.

Instantly a hood was pulled over her head, she smelled something strange, and then everything went blank.


	5. Max

_Warning: Contains mention of sexual assault_

Irina awakened to find herself in total darkness. When she tried to move her hands, she found that they'd been tied behind her back. She tried to scream but was unable to make a single sound. Fighting panic, she struggled to make sense of what was happening. She was lying on her side on a soft surface, and she heard nothing but absolute silence. She tried to move her legs and found that they'd been bound together as well. Frantically she kicked out and met with no resistance.

"Ah, I see you're awake now." Irina recognized the voice immediately. Max Albov! He'd befriended her in New York after she'd defected, and before long, they'd become lovers as well. When she'd moved to Germany to be closer to Arkady, he'd followed her there. He'd known of her undying love for Arkady, yet he'd hoped to win her over for himself some day.

At the time, she'd had no idea he was a hardened criminal in league with the Russian mafia to smuggle priceless art out of Russia. When she'd found out, she'd been shocked and had wanted nothing more to do with him.

Now he untied the blindfold that was around her eyes but left the gag on her mouth in place. "Don't be afraid," he told her. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm taking you back to New York, where you belong."

* * *

Arkady was puzzled when he returned to the apartment and discovered that Irina was nowhere to be found. He looked to see if she'd left a note but couldn't find one. She must have thought she'd be back before I returned, he told himself. However, as time passed and she still didn't appear, he became increasingly worried.

Will and Deanna returned a couple of hours later, chatting happily. "Where's Irina?" asked Deanna.

"I have no idea!" Arkady exclaimed. "She was gone when I came home. I thought she'd just stepped out for a minute, but she's been gone for hours now, and I'm worried sick!"

He called all the local hospitals, but she hadn't been admitted to any of them. By nightfall he was frantic. He left the apartment and spent several hours scouring the city, visiting every place he could imagine her having gone, but had no luck. At last he returned home to fall into an exhausted sleep on the sofa.

* * *

Max's private jet landed at the fixed base operator, and he picked Irina up and carried her to the waiting taxi. From there it was a forty-five minute drive to the secluded little bungalow in the country which he'd prepared to take her to. Once they were inside, he removed the gag from her mouth. "Scream as loud as you want," he told her. "Nobody can hear you way out here."

He untied the rope that bound her hands, then the one binding her legs. "Don't you like it?" he asked. "It looks just like that little inn we stayed at the night we made love for the first time. Remember how you thought it was gorgeous and talked about how dearly you'd love to live in a house that looked just like it? Well, now you've got your wish!"

Irina looked around herself in mute horror. She was in a charming little room with plush dark red carpet and a large cream-colored sofa with several fluffy pink pillows. "If you think this is nice, just wait until you see the bedroom." He took her by the hand and led her into it. The walls were painted a cheery yellow, and lacy curtains hung at the windows. The room was dominated by a large double bed which had a canopy and a yellow-and-white-checked comforter.

"You look tense." Max's tone was sarcastic. "I'll get you a drink to help you relax."

Irina was so thirsty that when he brought the drink, she gulped it right down without even thinking. Within moments, she felt very light headed and dizzy. A bolt of panic shot right through her. The baby!

"It's wonderful, isn't it?" Max began to remove her clothing, and as much as she tried to fight him, her arms suddenly felt as if they weighed a hundred pounds each. When he raised her skirt and pulled her panties down, she struggled and tried to cry out but could only manage a weak grunt. Max removed his own clothing and mounted her, thrusting into her over and over again. Filled with abhorrence and revulsion, she was helpless to escape his clutches. He continued his violation of her body until he'd achieved satisfaction, then rolled over and went to sleep as silent sobs wracked her body.

* * *

As Arkady jerked awake, a terrible thought occurred to him. What if Irina had been spirited out of the country against her will? Suddenly he thought of Max Albov. If anyone had a motive to kidnap Irina, it was him.

Arkady knew that he had to locate Max as quickly as possible. Perhaps Will and Deanna knew of some futuristic method of locating people in a very short period of time. He sure hoped so.


	6. Finding Irina

"How did you get here?" Will was overjoyed, but very surprised, to see Geordi and Data.

"We waited and waited to hear back from you, but we never heard a thing," Geordi replied. "We assumed that your comm badges must have malfunctioned and beamed down to investigate."

"As a matter of fact, our comm badges _did_ malfunction," Will replied. "We've been waiting for you to find us, and now that you finally have, we've a favor to ask of you. We need to borrow a shuttle craft. Irina is missing, and Arkady suspects that she's been kidnapped and taken to New York by her former lover."

"Oh my God," muttered Geordi. "To have survived anaphylactic shock only to have _this_ happen!"

"Not only that, but she also just found out she's pregnant," added Deanna. "It's absolutely imperative that she be found as quickly as possible."

"That goes without saying," Geordi replied. "I'll contact Picard right away. I'm sure the loaning of a shuttle craft won't be a problem."

* * *

Irina heard Max gently snoring beside her and knew that if she was going to escape, she'd have to act fast. Max hadn't bothered to dress before falling asleep, and in the jumble of clothing lying on the floor, she could see the handle of his gun sticking up out of the pocket of his pants.

Trying to make as little noise as possible, she quickly put her own clothing back on and grabbed the gun, heading for the door.

She was almost there when she tripped over a stool and crashed to the floor. Trying her best to ignore the painful bump on her head, she struggled to her feet and had almost reached the door when she heard Max's voice. "Oh, no, you don't. You're not going anywhere." He took a threatening step in her direction, and almost without thinking, she raised the gun, aimed, and pulled the trigger. Almost instantaneously, Max dropped to the floor with a surprised look on his face and a neat round hole in his forehead.

Once outside the bungalow, Irina realized that she was totally lost. She was miles from civilization and had no idea how to get back. She began to walk aimlessly along the road, hoping to eventually encounter someone who could help her. She'd journeyed about five miles when, exhausted, she sank by the side of the road, unable to take another step.

About half an hour later, a young family was on their way to a picnic in the country when they came upon the barely-conscious woman lying there. The father, Mark, stopped the car immediately. Irina watched as he got out of the car and felt his arms as he gently lifted her and deposited her on the back seat. The children, Jeremy and Mallory, moved over to make room for her, and Mark drove to the hospital.

At the hospital, a wheelchair was brought for Irina and she was taken to intensive care. Mark and his family waited as she was examined, and afterwards, the physician emerged and gave his report. "She's basically in good health but severely dehydrated, and she's also been sexually assaulted very recently. In addition, she's about six weeks pregnant."

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Mark's wife, Lisa. "So will she lose the baby?"

"We're doing our best to save it," the physician replied. "Only time will tell if we're successful."

* * *

Having acquired a shuttle craft, Will, Deanna, and Arkady lost no time in flying to New York. Arkady was so worried about his wife that he forgot to be awed by the novelty of warp-speed travel. Almost instantaneously, they found themselves standing in an open field just outside New York City. From there, Arkady was able to use transportation he was more familiar with to locate a telephone, where he called the NYPD and all the hospitals listed in the telephone directory. He quickly located the hospital to which Irina had been admitted, and he, Will, and Deanna took a bus there. Arriving in the waiting room of the ICU, the three met up with Mark and Lisa, who gave them the news about Irina.

"You're Russian," Mark commented.

"Yes. Why?"

"My father's Russian, too."

"That's nice. When can I see my wife?"

"She's resting now," the physician told him. You can go in and see her whenever you want."

Arkady slid the door opened and immediately saw his beloved lying on the bed with her eyes closed. An IV had been inserted into her arm. As he watched her chest gently rise and fall, a wave of tenderness washed over him. She looked so helpless, so frail, just lying there. How he longed to take her into his arms, to hold her close and protect her! The knowledge of what that vile monster had done to her infuriated him, and he desperately wanted to crush the man's neck between his hands. Not that that would undo the harm he'd done to Irina, but it would at least avenge her violation.

He longed to touch her, to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be all right, but he knew that she needed her rest, so he took a seat beside her bed and stroked her hair ever so softly.


	7. Deanna's Abilities

Her eyes fluttered open a few minutes later. "Arkasha?"

"It's all right, darling." He began to cover her face with kisses. "It's all over. You're safe now."

"The baby..."

"The baby's fine, too."

She continued to sob, and, mindful of the IV, he took her into his arms and held her. "He made me, Arkasha...he put something in my drink...and he made me..."

"I know, sweetheart. I know," he murmured as he continued to caress her. After about five minutes, she looked up at him. "Some people...a man and a woman...brought me to the hospital. They had a couple of kids..."

"Mark and Lisa. I've met them. But where's Max? How did you manage to get away from him?"

She frowned. "I don't remember."

So Max was still out there, on the loose, undoubtedly searching for Irina. Arkady knew he wouldn't be able to leave his wife's side until the brute was found and captured. "You're safe, sweetheart," he repeated. "I won't let him hurt you anymore. Just try to rest, darling. You and the baby need it."

Safe in his arms, she was soon asleep. He gently laid her back in the bed and returned to his vigil. When a nurse arrived to check on her, he asked to see the hospital's chief of security. "What' the problem?" she asked.

"There's a violent criminal running loose in the city," Arkady told her. "He kidnapped my wife in Moscow, brought her here, and raped her. I don't know how she ever got away from him, but I'm sure he's looking for her again."

"Oh, my!" She left and returned with a security officer, who asked Arkady what had happened. Arkady told him as much as he knew, and the officer promised that Irina would be provided with round-the-clock protection. The Russian remained at his wife's side until visiting hours were over, then rejoined Will and Deanna.

"Mark and Lisa stayed for as long as they could, but they had to go home for their kids," Deanna told him. "They said they're coming back tomorrow."

The trio checked into a motel for the night, but Arkady slept very poorly. Even though he knew Irina was safe, he couldn't rest knowing Max was free and just waiting for her to be released.

Arkady returned to the hospital just after sunrise the following morning and immediately asked to see the physician who was responsible for his wife's care. "She's had some bleeding, so I'd like to keep her here for a week, just as a precaution," the physician told him. "If there are no further complications, she can go home after that."

Irina was sitting up in bed when he entered her room. "Glad to see you're feeling better, sweetheart," he said.

"I still feel filthy after what he did to me." She shuddered.

"It wasn't your fault, darling," he told her. "I'm just so glad you got away from him."

"How did you find me so fast?"

Arkady told her about the shuttle craft. "Our visitors from the future came to our rescue once again."

"Are they still here?"

"Yes. The three of us stayed in a motel together last night."

Will and Deanna arrived a couple of hours later. "The love you have for one another is very strong, and your child is very strong as well," Deanna told Arkady and Irina.

"How can you tell?" asked Irina.

"I can sense it," Deanna replied. "Full Betazoids like my mother can read minds, but since I'm only half Betazoid, I can only sense strong emotion. Therefore, I can sense your child's strong determination to survive."

"What else can you sense?" Irina asked eagerly.

"At this stage, that's all," Deanna replied. "As time passes, I'll be able to sense more."

Mark and Lisa visited later. "You were trying to tell me about your father." Arkady sounded apologetic.

"His name's Illya Kuryakin, and he was recruited by the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement back in the sixties," said Mark. "He met my mother in Yugoslavia right after my grandfather was killed and helped her return to the United States. Later, they fell in love and married."

"So do they live around here?"

Mark nodded. "My father's been retired for over ten years. He owns the clothing store House of Vanya now."

"And what do you do?"

"I'm a biochemist. And you?"

"Chief investigator for the Moscow police. Although it seems there's an investigation job for me right here in New York now."

"I hope you find your man."

"So do I."


	8. Will's Proposal

Arkady was with the New York police officers when they opened the door of the bungalow. Right away he smelled a familiar aroma - the stench of death. At the same time, he saw the body of Max Albov lying in the middle of the living room, a neat round hole in his forehead. His skin had a greenish tinge, and his body was already beginning to bloat.

"Phew!" The policemen and Arkady all held their noses as they entered the bungalow. One of the Americans quickly examined the corpse and began to speak into his microphone.

"Caucasian male, age approximately thirty-five to forty years. Thinning blond hair, no distinguishing marks. Bullet wound to forehead was obvious cause of death. Dead for approximately..." he coughed, obviously struggling not to vomit, "...five days."

All Arkady could think about was Irina, lying there in her hospital bed, their child cradled snugly within her womb. _He'll never hurt her again._ The Russian felt immense relief wash over him. Suddenly he couldn't wait to tell Irina that Max was dead.

Then another thought occurred to him. Irina claimed that she had no memory of the period of time that had elapsed between her kidnapping in Moscow and her rescue by Mark and Lisa. Could she have shot Max herself in self defense and subsequently blocked the traumatic incident from her memory? If so, could she be charged with his murder and forced to stand trial? Desperately he attempted to push the thought from his mind.

The body was removed and taken to the medical examiner's lab, and Arkady returned to the station with the Americans. "So that was the man who attacked your wife," said one of the policemen, a man named Cooper.

"He'd been obsessed with her for many years," Arkady replied. "When we returned to Moscow four years ago and he was exposed as an art smuggler, I thought that we were finally rid of him. Unfortunately, I was wrong."

As Arkady got to know the American policemen, he began to feel a warm camaraderie with them. Contemplating the fact that he'd always wondered what it would be like to live and work in the United States, he found that the idea now appealed to him more than ever before.

* * *

Will and Deanna were relaxing in bed after a particularly passionate lovemaking session. Deanna's head lay on Will's shoulder, her long black hair cascading over his arm as his fingers traced slowly up and down her back. "I've been thinking, Imzadi," Will murmured. "You and I have loved one another for a long time now, and I think it's about time we made it official."

Deanna gasped. "You mean..."

"Deanna Troi, will you marry me?"

"Are you sure you're really ready to give up all the other women in your life, both human and alien?"

"They're nothing to me, Deanna. Every time I've been with someone else, I was secretly wishing that I was with you. Soren..." He sighed. "It's true that I developed strong feelings for her within a relatively short time, but in retrospect, I realize that what I really felt was compassion for her situation and a desire to help her escape from it. At the risk of sounding selfish, when it ultimately failed, I was relieved instead of devastated. Relieved that I wouldn't have to leave you, after all."

"Oh, Will..." Deanna felt her throat constrict, making it difficult to talk for a moment. "I really liked Soren and tried to be happy for her sake, but the whole time, I just had this awful feeling that I was about to lose you forever."

"You'll never lose me, I promise." Will chuckled. "But you still haven't answered my question."

"Well, maybe if you were to ask me properly..."

Will untangled his naked body from the sheets and stood beside the bed, waiting for her. She stood beside him, and he knelt on one knee. "Deanna Troi, will you marry me?"

"Yes, Will Riker, I'll marry you."

* * *

Arkady was glad to see that Irina was awake the next time he visited her in the hospital. She turned away from the television as he entered the room. "He's dead, sweetheart." He took the few steps between the door and the bed. "He'll never hurt you again."

"I know." Her voice was calm. "I saw it on the news."

He sat in the chair beside her bed and took her hand. "Are you all right?"

"Of _course_ I'm all right! Why should I not be? I'm _glad_ he's dead, after what he did to me. Aren't you?"

"Of course I am, darling." He didn't mention the fact that the gun she'd used to kill him had been found and dusted for fingerprints. No point in worrying her about that right now.

Several days later, she was released from the hospital. On the previous night, he spent a good deal of time making sure that everything in the motel room was arranged so that she'd be as comfortable as possible, and that morning, he went to a department store and bought her some new clothes to wear back to the motel and for several days afterwards. The clothes she'd been wearing when Max had kidnapped her had been ruined and had to be destroyed.

Although thrilled to be taking her back to the motel room, he felt a bit nervous as he arrived at the hospital. The physician had assured him that she was perfectly healthy, yet he was still very concerned that there may be lingering effects from the physical and emotional trauma she'd suffered.

She laughed as he came through the door. "You look just like a teenage boy coming to pick up a date for a high school dance."

"I'm just so very happy to be taking you away from this place."

"As I am to be leaving it."

"I know you are."

She shed her hospital gown and donned her favorite of the new outfits he'd bought her, and they left the hospital hand in hand.


	9. The Invitation

"Not bad." Irina glanced around the motel in approval. "Not bad at all."

Arkady grinned. "Best we could find on short notice." He picked his wife up and carried her to the bed. "Right now, I want to show you just how much I've missed you since we left Russia." He hesitated. "If you feel comfortable with the idea, that is." Gently he laid her down and then joined her, propping himself up on one elbow and gazing down at her.

"Why shouldn't I feel comfortable with it?"

"After what you've been through, I'd certainly never want to do anything that might traumatize you even further."

"I love you, Arkasha." Tears came to her eyes as her hand gently caressed his cheek. "Nothing could ever happen that would take that away from us."

As they began to kiss, passion flared in them both. she pulled his shirt off over his head, then wriggled out of her dress. When her hand lightly grazed his crotch, he instantly felt himself stiffen. Quickly she relieved him of his pants, and he gasped with surprise and joy when he felt himself embraced by the warm cavern of her mouth.

Afterwards he returned the favor, then made love to her very slowly and tenderly, taking special care not to cause her any discomfort. She cried just a little afterwards, and he held and comforted her. "Did I hurt you, darling?"

"Oh no, not at all," she quickly assured him. "I just feel kind of emotional right now."

He held her closer. "I love you, Irina."

"I love you too, Arkasha."

He kissed the tip of her nose. "So what do you want to do now, just rest a bit?"

"Yeah." She yawned. "I'd like to do some sight seeing later. It's been so long since the last time I was here that I want to see how much has changed."

"We're invited to the Kuryakins for dinner tomorrow evening."

"The Kuryakins?"

"Mark's parents. Will and Deanna will be there too. Will told me he has important news."

"I wonder what that could be..." She yawned again and curled up into a ball. Arkady curled around her spoon-style and held her tight, thinking how close he'd recently come to losing her, not once, but twice. He never wanted to let her go.

* * *

"Now for the big news," Will announced. "Several days ago, I asked Deanna to do me the honor of becoming my wife, and she agreed." He embraced Deanna, who was sitting beside him, and they both beamed.

"Congratulations!" Lisa exclaimed, and the rest of the guests joined in.

"So when's the date?" asked Mark's mother, Marion.

"We haven't decided," Deanna replied. "We're considering doing it right here in New York city, if we can find a clergyman willing to perform the ceremony."

"I remember my own wedding so well." Marion clasped Illya's hand. "It was in a Russian Orthodox church right here in New York city. All our friends and relatives were there. I remember the church with the onion domes and the crosses with the double bars and the big cabinet in front with all the icons. It was very impressive."

"Ours was in a Russian Orthodox church as well," said Irina. "It was right after Yeltsin had become President and all the churches were being restored. We were married in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the bank of the Moskva river. Arkasha was so nervous that he dropped the ring." Everyone laughed, even Arkady. "For our honeymoon, he took me to Siberia and showed me the port where he boarded the _Polar Star_ for his factory job. It's so beautiful and peaceful there, nothing but the pure white snow and ice. If not for the bitter cold, it would be almost paradise."

Arkady fell silent as his mind drifted back to his time aboard the factory ship and his relationship with the corporate representative Susan Hightower, and he felt the familiar pang of guilt. Susan had been the only part of his years in exile he'd kept from Irina. It wasn't that he'd intended to be dishonest, he tried to tell himself. It was simply that he hadn't wanted her to be hurt. Yet a part of him was forced to admit that at least part of the reason was that he'd feared she'd reject him if she'd known about Susan.

* * *

"What were you so deeply in thought about?" Irina asked her husband on the way back to the motel.

"I was just wondering how you'd feel about living in New York city again." Arkady told himself that it wasn't exactly a lie, as the matter _had_ been on his mind a lot recently.

"I _loved_ New York!" Irina enthused. "The only reason I moved to Germany was to be closer to you."

Arkady smiled. "Well, that's no longer an issue, is it?"

Irina's brow wrinkled in thought. "But if we were to stay here, what would _you_ do?"

"I've already spoken to the head of the New York police department. He said he knows my reputation and would be honored to have me as a member of the force."

"What the hell are we waiting for, then?"

* * *

As it turned out, Will and Deanna were unable to find a clergyman in New York city who was willing to marry them, so in the end, they decided to beam back aboard the _Enterprise_ so that Captain Picard could marry them. They told Arkady and Irina of their plans and invited the Russian couple to attend the wedding.

"I have to admit, the opportunity to see the inside of a space ship is tempting," said Arkady. "But would it be safe for my wife in her condition?"

"It would be very safe," Will assured him. "Dr. Beverly Crusher is an excellent physician and would be more than capable of dealing with any issues that might arise."

Arkady looked into his wife's eyes and saw that they were shining with excitement. "We'll go," he told Will and Deanna.


	10. The Wedding

Arkady and Irina held hands and Irina closed her eyes as they joined Will and Deanna in beaming aboard the _Enterprise._ When she opened them again, she looked around in wonder. Everything was so shiny and new and strange! Feeling a little frightened, she clutched her husband's hand more tightly, and he gave hers a reassuring squeeze.

Suddenly Will and Deanna were there, smiling. "This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard and our chief medical examiner, Dr. Beverly Crusher." From the way the two gazed into one another's eyes, it was obvious that they cared deeply for one another. "They're also lovers," Will whispered into Arkady's ear, confirming his suspicions.

"Our chief engineer, Geordi," Will continued.

Irina frowned. "Why the shades?"

"Because without them, I couldn't see anything at all!"

"Do you mean to say they're a type of artificial eyes?" asked Arkady.

"That's exactly what they are!"

"May I please examine them for just a minute?"

"Of course!" Geordi handed his visor to Arkady, who examined it at length.

"This is my assistant, Mr. Data," Geordi continued.

Irina couldn't believe her eyes. Before her stood the strangest man she'd ever seen. His skin was a shiny gold, and his eyes were yellow. "I am very pleased to meet you," he said as he shook the twentieth century couple's hands.

"I must confess, I've never met anyone with yellow eyes before," Arkady told him.

"I am an android, sir," Data told him.

Arkady's eyebrows furrowed. "I see."

"Meet our chief of security, Worf," Will continued.

Irina gasped in fright at the sight of Worf's forehead. "I assure you, madam, I am not dangerous," he assured her.

"Mr. Worf is from the planet Klingon," Will explained.

Irina glanced at Deanna. "Yes, there are many other planets that contain intelligent life besides Earth and Betazed," the counselor explained.

"How many?" asked Arkady.

"That's really too broad a subject to get into right now," Will replied. "Jean-Luc, I have important news for you. Deanna and I have decided to marry, and we want you to perform the ceremony."

"Well, now, congratulations!" Jean-Luc beamed. "I'm so glad to hear you've finally chosen to take the plunge. Now, if I could only persuade Beverly here to do the same." He cast wistful eyes in her direction, and she smiled and glanced down.

The ceremony was set for several days later, and then Deanna showed Arkady to their temporary quarters. "Everything just looks so...futuristic," Irina remarked as she ran her hand over the unfamiliar furniture.

"I can't wait to figure out how everything works." Arkady searched in vain for an alarm clock, a radio, or a toaster.

At dinnertime, Will returned to teach them how to use the food replicator. At first, Irina was hesitant to try the replicated chicken, potatoes, and peas. "Go ahead and taste it! It's perfectly safe," Will encouraged.

She did, then grimaced. Will laughed. "The taste _does_ take some getting used to."

By the time of the wedding, the Russian couple had become somewhat accustomed to their new surroundings. They and the others watched as Deanna, escorted by Worf, walked down the aisle to stand beside Will. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to unite this man and woman in holy matrimony," Jean-Luc began. "William Thomas Riker, do you take this woman, Deanna Troi, to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," said Will.

"Deanna Troi, do you take this man, William Thomas Riker, to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," said Deanna.

"Then by the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Everyone gathered around the happy couple, embracing and congratulating them. Arkady and Irina prepared to return to New York soon afterwards. "It's very important that you never say a word about what you've seen and heard to anyone," Will told them. "Our prime directive forbids us from interfering in the development of any pre-warp society.

"I have no desire to be considered mentally ill, anyway," Arkady chuckled.

"Will we ever see you and Deanna again?" asked Irina.

"I hope so." Once Will had become accustomed to the idea of conversing with his own distant ancestors, he'd become genuinely fond of Arkady and Irina.

Upon finding themselves back in New York, Arkady joined the New York Police Department, while Irina became re-acquainted with with the city she'd left over ten years previously. While touring some of her old haunts in Broadway one day, she came upon a familiar face. "Irina!" The slight, middle-aged man with the salt-and-pepper beard walked over and shook her hand. "So you've come back to visit us!"

"Actually, I live here now," Irina replied. "My husband and I recently moved here from Moscow."

"So you and Max are married now?"

"No, not Max. I married my true love, Arkady Renko."

"The investigator who helped you defect back in '83."

"Yes."

"And are you still working in broadcasting?"

"Oh, no. I haven't done that in awhile."

"You know there's always a place for you here should you desire to return to us."

"Perhaps I'll do just that."

* * *

Arkady was going about his usual business the day he saw her. Although he hadn't seen her in seven years, he recognized her right away. He turned and headed in the opposite direction, but it was too late. She'd already seen him.

"Arkady!"


	11. Undecaplets

"Hello, Susan," he said. "I'm sorry, but I don't have time to talk right now. Please excuse me."

"Arkady, please wait!" Susan Hightower rushed toward him, grabbing his arm. "Ever since the _Polar Star,_ I've been longing to see you again. What we had together was so special, and now that I've finally found you again, I never want to let you go!"

"I'm married now, Susan." Arkady's voice was soft. "I'm really sorry."

"Married?" Susan was crestfallen. "To whom?"

"Irina Asinova. I met her in 1983 and helped her defect. At that time, I thought I'd never see her again, but we were reunited in Germany in 1991, and we married shortly afterwards."

"Married. I don't believe it." She began to cry softly.

"I'm sorry, Susan. Now if you'll please excuse me - " He began to move away, but she called after him.

"Wait!"

He looked back at her.

"Do you love her?" she asked.

"Very much so. We're expecting our first child in a few months." He hurried away so he wouldn't have to see her grief-stricken face. His shoulders sagged with depression for the rest of that day, and when he returned home that evening, he embraced and kissed Irina even more tenderly than usual.

She laughed. "What's the occasion?"

"Do I have to have a special occasion to hug and kiss my wife?"

"Of course not." She frowned. "But there's something different about today. I can tell something happened."

Arkady heaved a heavy sigh and went to sit on the sofa. "When I was working aboard the _Polar Star,_ I had a very brief affair with an American woman named Susan Hightower. When the Americans disembarked, I thought I'd never see her again. She came up to me in the street today and said she wanted to resume the affair. I told her I was married and my wife was expecting a baby."

Irina looked as if he'd slapped her across the face. "You told me there were no other women after you left me in New York."

"There _weren't_ any, Irina! What I had with Susan was just sex, nothing more, and I was only with her once."

"But you still slept with her." Irina stalked into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind her. Arkady heard her locking it.

* * *

As she went about the rest of her day, Susan couldn't stop wondering what Irina Asinova looked like, who she was. She must be really beautiful to have captured Arkady's heart. Undoubtedly intelligent and articulate as well, Susan concluded bitterly.

Several weeks later, she was on Broadway when she saw an advertisement for a new play. She stopped to look at the poster and had to gasp when she saw the name 'Irina Asinova' under the credits. Noting the time of the play's opening night, she returned home. When the play started, she was in the audience, waiting for Irina to be introduced, and when she was, Susan saw that her pregnancy bump was already showing, albeit ever so slightly.

Susan's head was so full of all the things she wanted to ask and tell Irina that she was hardly able to follow the play at all. When it ended, she waited until the rest of the audience had left, then went backstage in search of the other woman. She finally saw her emerging from the dressing room and called to her. Irina turned her pale blue eyes toward the American woman.

"You're married to Arkady Renko, aren't you?" asked Susan.

 _"Was,"_ Irina corrected her. "I can't live with a man who lied to me!"

"Lied to you?"

"He told me he hadn't had any other women after he left me in New York, and now all of a sudden I find out he had a steamy affair aboard the _Polar Star!"_ Her eyes narrowed. "How do you know Arkady?"

"He was once a very dear friend of mine," Susan lied. "I've been trying to find someone who could put me back in touch with him."

"Don't waste your time." Irina turned her back on Susan. "He's not worth it."

* * *

"Your suspicions are correct," Beverly told Deanna as she moved the tricorder over her slightly swollen belly. "You're about four weeks pregnant, and what's more - " Beverly sucked in a deep breath. "I've never seen anything like _this_ before!"

"What is it?" Alarmed, Deanna sat up, and Will laid a calming hand on her arm.

Beverly didn't say anything for a long moment, then spoke at last. "I counted eleven embryos inside your uterus - undecaplets!"


	12. Gunshot Wound

A look of sheer panic crossed Deanna's face as Will placed a protective arm around her.

"There's no reason to worry." Beverly gave the couple a reassuring smile. "In centuries past, your pregnancy would have been a real challenge, but significant gains in the survival of ever increasing orders of multiple births have occurred over the past few centuries. The first surviving quintuplets, sextuplets, and septuplets were born in the twentieth century, the first surviving octuplets in the twenty-first century, and the first nonuplets and decaplets in the centuries since then. I'll have to keep a close watch on your pregnancy, of course, but there's no reason not to expect a successful outcome."

"How many boys and how many girls are there?" asked Will.

"Three boys and eight girls," Beverly told him.

He arched his eyebrows. "Our sons will be quite badly outnumbered."

Deanna chuckled. "Oh, _Imzadi,_ you know you're going to love having eight daughters!"

Will rolled his eyes. "If I can survive it." His wife gave him a playful poke in the ribs with her elbow.

"I'll see you again in a couple of weeks' time," Beverly told Deanna. "In the meantime, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, and get plenty of rest. I'm going to prescribe prenatal pills and iron supplements for you. It's very important that you take them as instructed."

* * *

Arkady stood alone in the motel, wondering where Irina, Will, and Deanna had gone. He'd looked forward to seeing the inside of a twenty-fourth century space ship, and now it looked as though the opportunity had been snatched away from him. Some kind of accident with the instrument known as a transporter must have beamed the other three onto the space ship while leaving him behind, he figured.

He hoped Irina would be all right. They both wanted this baby so badly, and there was no way of knowing what the futuristic devices aboard a space ship from almost four centuries in the future might pose to an early pregnancy. Although Will and Deanna had assured the twentieth century couple that Irina would be completely safe, Arkady still had his doubts.

He drummed his fingers on his chin, wondering what to do. In the end, he concluded that he seemed to have no other choice but to remain at the motel and await his wife's return.

* * *

Irina was on her way back to the apartment when she heard the news on the radio. Two policemen had been injured in a convenience store robbery, one of them seriously. Her heart began to beat faster, and she felt her palms perspire as they gripped the steering wheel.

All the anger she'd felt over Arkady's lie quickly drained away to be replaced by ice cold fear - fear that she'd never see her husband alive again, that she'd never have the chance to tell him how much she loved him. How could she ever live with herself if that happened?

She changed her plans and headed for the hospital the radio station had said the injured policemen had been taken to. Somehow, she found a parking spot, parked, and dashed to the emergency room as fast as her legs would take her.

"Is my husband here?" She was practically shouting. The receptionist looked up at her and blinked. "His name is Arkady Renko," Irina continued.

The receptionist consulted her computer. "He was admitted to the emergency room with a gunshot wound to the chest about forty-five minutes ago. He's still in surgery. That's all the information I have for now. I'm sorry."

Irina located the surgery department and asked the secretary there how Arkady's surgery was going. After the other woman told her that no information about him was available yet, she collapsed into a chair in the waiting room and burst into tears.

Several hours later, a surgeon emerged and asked whether she was related to Arkady. "I'm his wife," she replied.

"He's stable for now," the surgeon told her. "He lost a lot of blood, but the bleeding has tapered off, and his vitals have returned to normal."

"When can I see him?"

"We'll have him settled in a room in about half an hour. You can see him then."

When Irina entered her husband's hospital room, she was shocked to see how pale he was. His chest was heavily bandaged, and an IV ran into his arm. His eyes were tiny slits.

"Arkasha!" She ran to him, and he looked up at her. "I was so scared!"

"Irina - " His voice was very weak.

"I'm right here, darling. I'm so sorry I ran out on you like I did! Please forgive me! I couldn't have stood it if I'd lost you!"

"It's all right." He sounded just a little bit stronger. "I'm - thirsty -"

Irina filled a Styrofoam cup with water from the small plastic pitcher on the tray over Arkady's bed, inserted a straw into it, and helped him drink it. He lost most of it but managed to swallow a drop or two.

"Better now?" asked Irina.

 _"Da - spasibo -"_ Still woozy from the anesthetic, he'd reverted to his native tongue.

"It's going to be all right, sweetheart." She kissed his cheek and swept the hair back from his forehead with her fingers. "You're going to be fine."

Just then the door opened, and she gasped as she watched her husband's double enter the room.


	13. Recurring Accident

"Who are you?" Irina demanded.

The man's face fell. "You don't remember me, Irina?"

"You look just like my husband, but you can't possibly be him, since he's right here!"

The injured Arkady finally spoke. "It was...those people...from the future," he said. "They...did something...to me."

"They must have performed some kind of experiment on you without your consent!" Irina's eyes flashed with anger. "I wonder whether there's another version of me wandering around out there somewhere too!"

"Irina!" The healthy Arkady's voice was desperate. "Please tell me I'm the one you love!"

"I'm confused!" Irina began to cry.

A nurse entered the room. "Is there a problem?" Seeing healthy Arkady, she gave a little gasp of surprise. "Why, I didn't know you had a twin brother, Mr. Renko!"

"I _don't,"_ said healthy Arkady.

Irina was tempted to tell the nurse her suspicions but feared being sent to the psychiatric ward if she did so. No sane person would believe an encounter with beings from more than four hundred years in the future, never mind one's own descendants.

The nurse looked from one man to the other once again, then shook her head and left.

* * *

Deanna frowned. "This is the first time this has happened since 2361," she said. "In that year, Will was part of an away team rescuing researchers stranded at an outpost on the planet Nervala IV. A transporter accident resulted in a duplicate human being left behind on the planet while Will himself was beamed back aboard the starship. It seems the same thing has happened again. When Arkady beamed aboard the _Enterprise_ for our wedding, a second beam was created, one which was reflected back to Earth and resulted in a second copy of Arkady."

Arkady frowned. "So now there are two of me? That's crazy!"

Will chuckled. "Imagine how I felt when I first met _my_ twin!"

"But what's to become of this duplicate me? He can't just step into my life!"

"That's something he'll have to decide for himself," Deanna replied. "In Will's case, his twin transferred to a different starship and continued his own life independent of Will's. Perhaps your double can make a similar arrangement."

Arkady sighed. "The problem is, he's in love with Irina too."

"That's unfortunate, but he'll have to somehow get over the loss and move on," said Deanna.

* * *

Susan had heard about the shooting on the news as well. At first she'd felt smugly satisfied, as if Arkady's rejection of her had been avenged, but as the hours passed, she became genuinely worried he might die. If that happened, the chance of winning him back from Irina would be gone forever.

She made her way to the hospital, where she found a perfectly healthy, but obviously bewildered, Arkady wandering around on the grounds.

"Arkady!" she cried, rushing toward him. "I thought you'd been shot!"

"Not me," he replied. "Apparently a man with my name who's identical to me in every way instead. It seemed to have been some accident involving technology from the future."

"So whatever that means, you aren't the one who's married to Irina?"

"No. It seems he is instead." Arkady sounded as if he were about to cry.

"So you're free?" She felt her spirits rise.

"Apparently so." He sighed. "My typical luck."

"Oh, don't be so down about it." She smiled and reached to embrace him. "It's not the end of the world. I'm sure love will find you again."

He shook his head. "Irina was my one true love. I could never love another like I did her."

"Perhaps not, but I think I could make you happy again, if you'd just give me the chance." She linked her arm through his and led him toward the street.

A Few Months Later

"Ow! Oh! I swear to you, Arkady, if I live through this, I'll fix you where you can never do this to me again!" Heavily in labor, Irina's face turned crimson as she gasped and groaned.

"You're doing great, love! You're almost there!" Arkady encouraged.

"I swear to you, Arkady - oh!" Another contraction washed over her, and she pushed with all her might. There was silence for just a moment, and then the nurse held the newborn in her hands.

"You have a beautiful, healthy daughter!" she exclaimed.

Irina laughed with joy, and Arkady joined in. The cord was cut, and the newborn began to wail. The midwife placed her into her mother's arms.

"Look at her, Arkasha! She's perfect!" Irina breathed.

"I love you, darling," Arkady whispered, stroking the moist hair back from his wife's forehead.

The infant opened her smoky blue eyes and looked up at her mother.

"Your name is Julia," Irina told her, guiding the searching lips to a nipple.

"Julia Arkadyevna Renko." Arkady's voice was soft as he ran his hand over his new daughter's soft, silky hair.


	14. Deanna Gives Birth

"How do you feel, Imzadi?" Will gazed at his wife with concern. Deanna's bloated abdomen swelled up like a mountain in the middle of the bed, and her legs and feet had become badly swollen as well. She hadn't been able to get out of bed for several days, except for short trips to the restroom, and even then had had to be heavily supported by her husband.

Now she turned troubled eyes to him. "Not too good. I've had a terrible backache all night long. I think it's time to get Beverly."

Will patted her hand and then was off in a flash, returning with Beverly about five minutes later.

"Will told me you aren't feeling well." Concerned green eyes met pain-filled black ones. "I'd like to examine you."

Deanna got into position, and Beverly examined her. "You're in active labor, all right. As you know, due to the number of fetuses, I'll have to perform a Cesarean."

Deanna nodded as Will squeezed her hand. "Everything will be all right."

Beverly helped Deanna roll onto her side so the anesthetic could be administered. She lay there in an awkward position for twenty minutes until it had taken, and then Beverly and Will rolled her onto her back so Beverly could make the incision. She set up the drape so Will and Deanna couldn't see, then picked up the scalpel. Five minutes later, she lifted an ever-so-tiny infant into the air. Will cut the cord, and the baby began to squirm and bleat.

Beverly cleaned her off, weighed her, wrapped her in a blanket, and cuddled her close to Deanna's side. "Sierra Rose," Deanna breathed, touching the paper-thin skin of her new daughter's face. A moment later, the infant was placed into an incubator as Beverly prepared to deliver her sibling. Sienna Dawn was born next, followed by Scarlet May, then Season Lily. Will gasped as the fifth child was delivered.

"Starling Branch!" he exclaimed at the sight of his firstborn son. Stone Forest came next, then Storm River. Next were September Rain, Shyanne Juniper, Silver Lake, and Summer Meadow. Each new infant was wrapped in a blanket and placed in an incubator, then Beverly sutured Deanna's incisions and removed her IV line.

"There will be some discomfort when the anesthetic wears off," she told her patient. "I'll give you an analgesic when you need it."

Deanna was too overcome with relief and joy to worry much about that. Time seemed to stand still for her and Will as they gazed at each of their eleven tiny children in turn.

"She has your eyes," Will remarked as Sierra's black orbs pierced his own, seeming to read his every thought. "I'll bet she grows up to be an amazing telepath."

"Starling sure has your grip," Deanna replied. "I can see him twenty years from now as the brightest star at the academy."

"Sierra and Sienna will always be very close," said Will. "See how Sienna reaches for her big sister, as if she knows she's right in the next incubator?"

"Of course they will be." Deanna felt sad, thinking of Kestra. "Look how Storm kicks! We certainly named him right! He's kicking up a storm!"

"Silver is so delicate and graceful," said Will. "I can see her growing up to be a ballerina."

"Season will be our little tomboy." Deanna chuckled. "See how she's already squirmed halfway out of her blanket."

"Look how Stone sleeps so peacefully, as if nothing could ever disturb him," said Will. "We named him right as well."

Scarlet opened her little pink mouth and began to wail.

"Oh, how I wish I could nurse her!" Deanna exclaimed. The infants were too weak to suckle so would have to be fed by dropper.

Deanna rested, then pumped breast milk which would of course have to be supplemented, and all their crew mates came by to admire the undecaplets. After they'd left, Deanna and Will fed each infant with a dropper, two at a time. The babies were weak, and the new parents had a hard time getting them to swallow the milk, so the feedings took an extremely long time.

* * *

Deanna had a long, difficult recovery from the surgical birth. Although the incisions healed quickly, it took her abdomen a very long time to shrink back to its pre-pregnancy size. In the time she wasn't either pumping milk or holding and feeding her children, she did a lot of toning exercises, and in the end still had to have surgery to remove the extra skin.

All eleven babies thrived, although Silver, Shyanne, and Summer all had to be given oxygen for a brief time, and Storm had surgery to repair a hole in his intestine. For that reason, he lagged behind his siblings somewhat in weight for a few months but eventually caught up to them.


	15. Fun On The Beach

**1999**

"Who was it?" Irina asked Arkady as he hung up. She was trying to get six-month-old Lydia to eat her strained peas while three-year-old Julia bit into her grilled cheese sandwich.

"The Russian embassy in Havana," he told her. "They found a body in Havana Bay and think it's Pribluda. They want me to investigate."

"How long will you be gone?"

Arkady heard the unhappiness in his wife's voice and smiled. _"We_ will be gone for as long as it takes to solve the case."

"You mean you're taking us with you?" Irina cried out in joy.

"I think we're entitled to a vacation in the sunshine, don't you?"

"I've never been to Cuba before!" Irina exclaimed.

"What's Cuba, Mommy?" asked Julia.

"It's an island far away from here where it's warm and sunny all the time," her mother told her.

"And are we gonna fly there on an airplane?"

"That's right!"

After a couple days of hurried packing, the Renko family boarded the airplane. Julia, clad in a light pink shirt with mint green overalls, sat strapped into her seat between her parents, and Irina held the baby, who wore a lavender onesie with ruffles at the neck.

Too excited to sit still, the little girl squirmed in her seat, asking her parents a million questions.

"You look happy." Arkady reached over and brushed a strand of hair back from his wife's face, which he was glad to see looked relaxed and calm. She'd been so stressed out with caring for the girls lately he'd become worried about her. Julia, who'd been potty trained months before, had started having accidents again, and Lydia was now teething.

"I'm always happy when I'm with you," Irina replied. Lydia began to whine, and her mother offered her a teething ring.

* * *

"Enjoying yourself?" Drink in hand, Will sat on the large beach towel beside his wife. Starling and Stone were taking turns sprinkling sand on her belly, while Storm, Scarlet, and Season built a sand castle nearby. Sierra and Sienna walked hand and hand beside the shore, looking for pretty seashells, while Summer, September, Silver, and Shyanne played ring-around-the-rosy.

Will and Deanna had selected a beach scene program for the holodeck.

"Oh, I'm having loads of fun," Deanna told her husband. "You?"

"It''s great to have a day off." Will gazed out over the gently swirling waves.

"I wonder what Arkady and Irina are up to now?" mused Deanna.

"They've been dead several hundred years, Imzadi," Will replied.

"You know what I mean," said Deanna. "I've considering asking whether it would be possible for us to return to the space/time continuum we visited before. I know Irina's had her baby by now. We never even found out what she had."

"Or if there's been any more trouble with the Russian mafia," added Will. "Perhaps another visit would be in order."

* * *

From the expression on her husband's face, Irina knew the news wasn't good.

"So it was him?" she asked.

Arkady nodded. "Not much left of him to autopsy after all this time." He grimaced. Irina could only guess the awfulness of the gruesome scene he'd just had to endure. She went to him, and he held her.

"What happened to him?" she asked.

"They think it was an accidental drowning, but I'm not so sure."

"So what happens now?"

"Sergei was a true friend. I'm not leaving until I find out for sure whether or not he was murdered."

For many days afterwards, Arkady was away from home almost all the time, leaving Irina to care for their daughters alone. Although she enjoyed taking the girls to the beach, the open air market, or the park to listen to rumba or salsa bands, she missed her husband and wished they could be spending this time together.

One morning, she'd spread the quilt on the sand, laid Lydia down on it, and was unpacking the graham crackers and juice boxes when Julia spoke.

"Look who's coming, Mommy! Two grown-ups and a whole bunch of little kids that all look just alike!"

Irina looked up to see Will and Deanna approaching with their entire brood. As usual, Storm, Season, and Scarlet were in the lead, followed by their eight siblings.

"Hello! It's good to see you again!"Irina exclaimed, remembering this man was her own distant descendant. "Looks like you brought your own small army this time!"

Will and Deanna laughed. "Meet the undecaplets," said Deanna. "Sierra, Sienna, Scarlet, Season, Starling, Stone, Storm, September, Shyanne, Silver, and Summer."

"All the girls look just alike, and so do all the boys! How do you tell them apart?"

"They each wear a different color bracelet," Deanna replied.

"Where's Arkady?" asked Will.

Irina sighed. "Investigating the death of his friend, Sergei Pribluda. He was found dead in Havana Bay. Arkady thinks foul play was involved. Typical of him." She rolled her eyes. "There's a young Cuban detective helping him investigate the mystery. Her name's Ofelia Osorio. She's very pretty, and intelligent as well."

"Don't worry." Deanna sensed the other woman's anxiety and gave her shoulder a reassuring pat. "Arkady will never love any other woman but you."

* * *

The body was that of a naked male, a blond European who'd been hacked to death by a machete. The girl was lying on the bed, also naked, arms and legs splayed, head chopped nearly off. Blood had soaked into the carpet and splattered the wall above the headboard of the bed. Both bodies were hard with rigor mortis and had been dead for at least four hours.

Ofelia felt her stomach lurch and made it to the toilet just in time. After emptying her stomach, she flushed, but the toilet began to overflow. She stuck her hand as far as she could into its throat and pulled out a bloody ball of toilet paper. Still heaving, she unrolled it on a towel. It contained a wadded German passport for a Hans Lohmann, 40, of Hamburg, Cuban papers for a Teresa Guiteras Marin, 15, of Havana, and a photo of Arkady Renko that had been torn in half.


	16. Past The Stars

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this," Arkady told Karin Lohmann. "Your husband has been murdered." The investigator was speaking long distance over the telephone to the German housewife.

"No!" Karin cried. "It can't be!"

"I'm sorry," Arkady repeated. "The body will be returned to Germany on the next flight out."

He heard Karin sobbing and felt depressed.

"But how did it happen?" she asked.

It was the question he'd been dreading. "He was found naked in a motel room, chopped to pieces with a machete."

"Was he alone?"

Arkady gulped, wondering whether he should lie to the woman. In the end, he decided to tell her the truth. "No. There was a naked prostitute who'd also been murdered on the bed."

He heard the sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. "Why, that bastard!" Karin stormed. "I always suspected he was cheating on me!"

"I'm sorry," Arkady repeated, feeling helpless.

* * *

"Two more bodies were found today," Arkady told Irina as they lay in bed that night. Drowsy from making love, her head rested on his shoulder. "A prostitute and her client, both naked and hacked to death with a machete."

Irina gasped, then rolled off him.

"Well, it served them right!" she spluttered. "I'll bet he was married, wasn't he?"

"Yes," Arkady replied. "Needless to say, his wife didn't take it well at all."

"Well, I guess not!" Irina snuggled back up to her husband. "Who could blame her?"

"Mommy!" came a faint cry from the adjoining bedroom. Quick as a flash, Irina slipped from the covers, donned her housecoat, and went to check on her daughter. She found Julia sitting up in bed with tears streaming down her face.

"I had a bad dream!" the little girl sniffled.

"Oh, baby, it's all right! Mommy's here!" Irina pulled her daughter into her lap and held her close until the tears subsided, then tucked her back into bed and kissed her cheek.

By the time she got back to her own bedroom, Arkady was snoring.

* * *

As soon as Deanna heard the cry, she knew it was Shyanne. The little girl had been having nightmares ever since Will had allowed the children to watch a movie about dinosaurs several nights previously. One scene in which a baby dinosaur had fallen into the river had upset the most sensitive of the undecaplets. Dashing to her daughter's bedside, Deanna scooped the little girl up into her arms, holding her tight, rocking her.

"There, there. It's all right."

"Mommy, the dinosaur fell down!" Shyanne wailed.

"I know he did, honey, but he was OK, remember?"

Shyanne stopped crying and smiled. "Oh yeah, he was, wasn't he?"

"He sure was!"

With a grin, the little girl scrambled back underneath the covers, snuggling up to Silver. Deanna tucked the covers around her, then returned to her own room.

"Everything all right?" Will asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah. Just the dinosaurs again. I wish you'd be more careful about what movies you let them watch."

Will sighed.

* * *

"It was a scam," Arkady told Irina as they were packing to return home. "A plot to steal 250 million dollars in a sugar fraud. Sergei had found out about it and was going to expose it. As for the murders of the prostitute and her client, they were unrelated."

"Who was behind the scam?"

"A group called the 'Havana Yacht Club.' I've turned all the information I have over to the Cuban authorities. It's up to them to handle the case from now on."

"I'm just glad you survived. Every time you take a case, I worry that something might happen to you." She paused to walk over to her husband and put her arms around him, hugging him from behind.

"I worry that something might happen to me, too." He turned and kissed the top of her head.

"Mommy, when will we see all those kids again?" asked Julia.

"I don't know, sweetie," her mother told her. "They live a long, long way away from us."

"Where?"

"You know how, when you look up at night, you can see the stars?"

"Uh huh!"

"Well, they live past the stars."

"Wow, that really _is_ a long way!"

"It sure is!"

Irina and Arkady looked at each other and smiled.


End file.
